Here with Me
by Hugsiez
Summary: The fight between Luka and Brian doesn't stop at the bar. (Completely don't know how to summarize. First ER fic, please R&R!!)
1. Confrontations

AN- This is my first ER fic, so please be nice! It's completely Luka/Abby, with Carter as a friend, but I just wanted to warn you beforehand.  
  
After Abby is attacked, something else happened after Luka beat Brian up that brings some realizations.  
  
All usual disclaimers apply  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Luka stalked inside the bar where he knew that Brian was; infuriated. The fact that Abby had been attacked by that bastard was not only making him furious, it was stirring up emotions that he thought that he would not feel again. When his family had been taken away from him, he had been overcome by such a rage that he thought would never end. One that wanted to kill the people responsible for the loss of his family.  
  
A rage that wanted him to make those people suffer the same pain that his family had felt.  
  
When he saw that Brian was playing pool with his buddies, his rage grew stronger and faster. He wanted to teach that son of a bitch a lesson. He wanted him to always remember that there would be consequences to what he did; especially if he had hurt someone that he cared so deeply about.  
  
Brian had been laughing, carefree and enjoying the mug of beer that he had in his hand. The game that they had just been playing had ended, and he had been the one that had helped win; so he felt completely relaxed. He was about to make a toast to his victory and, just as he was raising the mug, he saw Luka making his way in, furious. He had seen him in the hospital with his neighbor while he had been looking for Joyce, but now he didn't have the same calm and professional look that he had when he had seen him earlier. Now his eyes were narrowed in a deep glare, and by the way he was going, he knew that he was going after him. "I- I didn't mean to hurt her! It's just that my temper-"  
  
At that pathetic excuse, Luka's anger seemed to grow inside of him and, without thinking but not exactly caring, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and jerked him towards him; glaring at him. As he talked, he sneered, "Wrong answer. You want to lose your temper? Lose it with me, tough shot." With that, Luke swiftly punched him across the face; sending him flying back and down to the floor. "You like to hit women? Hit *me*! Huh? Why don't you try to hit me?" Quickly, he kicked him on the stomach before grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him against the rack that was on the wall. When Brian hit the floor, Luke knelt down next to him, glaring, and grabbed him by the throat; pinning him down that way. "You hurt Abby again- or any other woman-and I swear that I will make you pay for it. This is just a warning."  
  
Standing, Luka kicked Brian again before walking out of the bar; leaving Brian bloody on the floor. Once he was outside, he took a breath to calm down, fixing his hair. After calming himself down, he walked over to his black Viper and got in. Checking his watch, he figured that Abby had left the ER already and, sighing after some debating, he dialed Susan's house. It took about two rings before a very sleepy Susan answered the phone. "Susan? I'm sorry to have bothered you, it's Luka."  
  
Half asleep, Susan frowned and sat up slightly. "Luka? What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just that I was wondering if Abby went home with you. You know, just to see if she's ok."  
  
"Um. . . No, Luka, I think that she went home."  
  
At the answer, Luka frowned. "What? She went home?"  
  
"Yeah, I know, I told her not to but she said she'd be fine. You might want to try there?"  
  
Sighing, Luka nodded as he started the engine of the car. "Yeah, ok. Thank you and I'm sorry to have bothered you." Hanging up, Luka sighed and leaned back against the seat; swearing in Croatian from how frustrated he felt. Just as he was about to start driving, a car passed him by quickly and, when he saw who it was, Luka started to drive towards Abby's apartment quickly.  
  
It had been Brian.  
  
**  
  
It had been about an hour since Abby had been released from the hospital and, after much debating; she made her way back to her apartment. It had taken her a lot of courage hour, to actually head back to her apartment, but she knew that she had to; that she couldn't let Brian live her life in fear in her own apartment. Just the thought of letting him rule her life with the threat of being there made her feel foolish. She was stronger than that. She had gotten some extra clothes from the ones that she always kept in her locker in case of an emergency, and now she was extremely glad that she hadn't used it yet.  
  
Sighing, she finished cleaning the blood that had been on the floor and shivered as she threw away the wet paper towels that she had used. It was slightly hard to see, and she knew that she had to go lie down and get some rest before she headed for work in a few hours. Even if she had just changed about two hours ago, she still changed into a pair of pajamas and a new robe after showering. Just as she was about to head over to her room, a loud knocking brought her attention back to the door. When more knocking came, she could feel her heartbeats started to rise. Could it be Brian again? Didn't he know that the police was going to get him? Swallowing the thick knot in her throat, she slowly started for the door. "Wh- Who is it?"  
  
"It's me, Abby; Luka."  
  
Sighing in relief, Abby went to the door and opened it. At the sight of Luka out of breath, though, she frowned. "Luka? What's wrong, why are you so agitated?" She opened the door wider for him; inviting him in.  
  
As Luka walked in, he turned to her. "I thought that. . . Are you ok?"  
  
Still frowning, Abby nodded. "Yeah. Well, my eye's swollen, but I'm fine. Are you ok?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, I just thought that. . ."  
  
Smiling slightly, Abby walked to him. "That Brian had come in and had beaten the crap out of me? I'm a big girl, Luka, I won't make the same mistake twice and just let strangers into my apartment."  
  
While Abby talked, Luka's lips formed a small smile. Even if her eye was swollen she was still so beautiful in his eyes. Still smiling he gently removed a lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear; caressing her cheek in the process. "You let me in. . ."  
  
At his touch, Abby felt something inside of her starting to stir for some reason. Unconsciously, she leaned her cheek against his hand gently and smiled back at him, talking in a low voice. "You're no stranger. . ."  
  
Luka opened his mouth to say something, but a very loud knock made him stop. At Abby's expression of surprise and the way that she jumped, he put his index finger on her lips to make her stay quiet. As the knocking increased and some kicking was added, Luka turned to Abby and whispered, "Go call the police." When Abby nodded and she hurried to her room, Luka turned back to the door and, once it opened by the force that Brian was using, he glared at him. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Brian smirked, the blood on his face dry by now. He was obviously drunk; more than how he had been earlier, and now he was holding a knife in his hand. "Well, well. Just how I thought, 'Superman' is here. To defend Abby, isn't it?" His smirk suddenly disappeared and a glare was replaced. "I'm going to *make* her tell me where Joyce is."  
  
If Brian didn't have the knife, Luka would have started to give this guy a well deserved beating, but he didn't. He wasn't going to risk anything, especially in Abby's apartment. "Put the knife down"  
  
Abby had told the police to come quickly, but now it felt like she had called them years ago and they still weren't here. Where were they!? She had heard everything from her room and, after hanging up, she started to go to where they were again but, at the actual sight of the knife, a small gasp escaped from her; something that brought over Brian's attention.  
  
"Where's my wife?"  
  
Luka answered for Abby. "No one is going to tell you, so make this less bad for you and put the knife down."  
  
"What, you think that you can give me a beating and I won't do anything?"  
  
At that, Abby turned to Luka in surprise and, when he nodded slightly to clear up that he was telling the truth, she was even more surprised. He had done that? For her? "Brian, get out of here." Just then the sirens were heard. "See? The cops are coming, why don't you just leave?"  
  
Feeling cornered, Brian glared at her. "You bitch! I just wanted to know where Joyce was, why the hell couldn't you tell me?!" Furious, he started towards Abby but when Luka stood in front of her and started to try to take away the knife from him, they started to struggle; each of them trying to stab the other.  
  
"Luka, stop! Stop it, Luka, just let him go!" She felt so helpless in not being able to do anything. She wanted to go to them and pull Brian off of him and just disappear from there, but they only kept fighting. Just as the cops came in, both of them stopped fighting; glaring at one another but, when the cops started to force Brian off of Luka, she saw the knife that he was holding; bloody. It wasn't Brian's blood, though.  
  
It was Luka's.  
  
Luka had been holding his stomach tightly to try to make the bleeding stop on his own but, as he did so, his legs started to buckle under him and made him start falling. Just as he thought he was about to hit the floor, Abby caught him and, even if she couldn't keep him standing, she fell with him so he wouldn't hit the floor too hard. He blinked and tried to talk, but a pang of pain started to spread all throughout his body, and a burning sensation seemed to grow where he had gotten stabbed.  
  
Quickly, Abby held him and tried to stop the bleeding with her own robe. As she held him, though, she could feel how tense he was growing from the pain he was in, and the blood only seemed to come out quicker. Even if she was a nurse and she had seen this-and treated this-hundreds of times, she didn't know what to do now. "Luka, stay with me, don't close your eyes."  
  
Luka looked up to Abby, blinking twice to get rid of the fuzziness that was clouding his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but he started coughing up blood. Thankfully, though, Abby helped to hold him up a little so he could spit it out. Coughing again, he looked up at her and whispered, not being able to talk, "I'm- I'm sorry. . ."  
  
Abby shook her head and put her index finger on his lips. "Shh, you have nothing to be sorry about. Just stay with me, Luka, please."  
  
**  
  
Kerry's shift was about to be over, but the ER, for once, wasn't swarmed with patients that needed care. In fact, this was one of the calmest nights. That was something that was usually very rare but, on this particular occasion she had a bad feeling about how calm the ER was. And, sure enough, an ambulance rushed to the parking of the ER and two paramedics rushed in, pushing in a gurney as they performed CPR on a man. Frowning slightly, Kerry could swear that she knew who that was and, when Abby rushed in too after the paramedics and still wearing the bloody robe and in her pajamas, Kerry went to her. "Abby? What happened?"  
  
"Dr. Weaver, that's Luka, please you have to help him."  
  
Nodding and not waiting for more, Kerry hurried into Trauma 1, not wanting to waste any time.  
  
.:.:.:.:.:.  
  
"Abby?"  
  
Abby had been sitting on a chair of the waiting room, with her elbows on her knees and her head buried in her hands. She had taken off her robe but was still wearing the pajama pants and sweater that she had been wearing. When she heard her name, she looked up at the person that had called her. "Carter, what are you doing here?"  
  
John sat down next to her after putting aside her robe. "I start my shift in a few minutes and I heard what happened. Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks to Luka. Do you know how he is?"  
  
"Last I heard he was still in the OR."  
  
Abby sighed in frustration and got up, pacing. "It's been five hours, Carter, he should be out by now."  
  
John sighed and got up, grabbing her shoulders to make her stop pacing. "Hey, calm down, he'll be fine. He's gone through so much, he'll survive this one. Easily."  
  
Nodding, Abby sat down again but, just as she was about to lean back, Kerry went to her. "Abby? Luka's just out of the OR."  
  
"How is he?"  
  
"He's critical, but I think he'll pull through. It caused some internal bleeding, but they fixed it."  
  
"Can I go see him?" When Kerry nodded, Abby immediately got up and went to Post-Op and to where Luka was. He looked extremely pale and a respirator that was in his mouth was breathing for him while he was given his blood transfusion. Swallowing the knot in her throat, she took his hand. He needed to be ok. There was still so much that they needed to work through. There were a lot of things that she wanted to tell him and that she now knew that she couldn't just hide anymore.  
  
She needed to tell him that she loved him. 


	2. Always and Forever

AN- Thank you all of you who reviewed my story! I was actually nervous that no one would like it, but thank you for the reviews: they're much appreciated. Now, after this chapter, please tell me if you'd like to read more 'cause I don't know if I should end it here. :/ ^_^;; Thanks for reading!  
  
All usual disclaimers apply.  
  
**~~**~~**~~**~~**  
  
Abby had stayed next to Luka's side the rest of the day as much as she could. He had been transferred over to the ICU, and each time she could get a small break from the ER she was there with him, holding his hand. There had been no change in his condition, and he hadn't even woken up at all. She was really worried about him, but she just kept encouraging him on so he could wake up and get better. 'He needs to get better,' she thought. 'I can't lose him. I need him too much. I love him. . .'  
  
That night, she didn't even bother to go home; she was right by his side again, talking to him as 'they made plans for when he'd get out of the hospital.' Everyone had told her to go home so that she could be well rested for when he'd wake up, but she didn't want to go. She was afraid that he would slip away while she was gone from him and that she would never see him again. Even if the chair where she was sitting was extremely uncomfortable and impossible to even think about falling asleep, she started to nod off as she sat. She wasn't sure what time it was but, suddenly, a small movement woke her up. She couldn't believe that she had actually fallen asleep; what if Luka had woken up while she was asleep? What if.  
  
Her thoughts immediately flew out of her head as she saw Luka's fingers starting to move slowly around her hand. It was obvious that he was extremely weak from the blood loss and the pain, but he was still trying even if he wasn't awake. "Luka?" she asked as she tried to fight down the knot that seemed to be choking her. "Luka, can you hear me. . .?" At her voice, a small groan escaped from Luka. He tried talking, but he couldn't because of the respirator that was still in his throat. "Shh, don't talk. . .," she whispered. "Don't talk, it's ok."  
  
Luka opened his eyes very slowly, trying to fight back the blurriness that were preventing him from seeing correctly. Everything seemed to blend in together; nothing seemed to make sense. When his vision started to clear up, though, and he saw Abby sitting next to him and holding his hand, he tried to talk.  
  
"No, please, don't talk." Abby smiled slightly, trying to make him feel better. "You've put respirators in hundreds of patients and you had never known how it felt. . .? Well, Dr. Kovac, I hope that this is your last time." Smiling again, she kissed his cheek gently; relieved that he was awake. It was obvious to her that he was still trying to talk, so she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It's ok, whatever you want to say can wait for later. Go to sleep, Luka. I'll be right here." Not once losing her smile, she brought his hand up to her lips and gently kissed the top of it before kissing his cheek and starting to pass her other hand along his hair gently.  
  
It didn't take long for Luka to fall back asleep, not realizing when he doctor came in to check on him. He also didn't notice nor feel when Abby kissed his cheek and whispered gently to his ear, "I love you."  
  
.:.:.:.:.:.  
  
"Luka, you have to stay in this room, ok? You can't help other patients if you're not healed either!"  
  
Sighing, Luka leaned back against the bed. It had been about two days since he had been let out of the ICU and moved to a room but today he had been trying to leave the room and go down to the ER to help around in whatever he could. His wound, according to his doctors, was healing correctly and he would be able to go home the next day. Abby would bring him fruit or dessert from the cafeteria from time to time, or something to read or to keep him entertained, but he was getting tired of being stuck in that room. "How am I supposed to be in a hospital when I can't work?"  
  
Abby laughed at him and shook her head, sitting down on his bed. "Simple, you lay back and take it easy so you can heal." Her smile minimized slightly and she took his hand. "We all really miss you down there." It was so hard to tell him that she loved him. She had tried to tell him, but she couldn't, for some reason. At first, part of her started making up the excuse that it had been because of Carter, but then she realized that she was making the excuses up. That the man that she loved was Luka, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. She wanted to, but she couldn't.  
  
Luka, at that, smiled slightly and squeezed her hand gently. "Don't worry, I'll be back down there before you know it. I heal fast."  
  
"Well, Dr. Kovac, while you heal here I'll be down in the ER." Smiling, she squeezed his hand gently before starting to leave the room.  
  
Luka stared at her as she left but, before she reached the door, he sat up on the bed quickly. That, though, hadn't been smart because it felt like someone had just kicked him where the wound was. Wincing and holding his stomach, he said, "Abby, wait. Come here, please."  
  
Abby turned to the door, about to tell him that she had to get back-that she shouldn't even be there right then, but she didn't. Smiling, she headed back to her spot next to him. "What, Luka?"  
  
"You. . . When I woke up, you had said that if I needed to talk or say something, that I could always say it later. Do you remember that?"  
  
How could she forget? It had been one of the happiest moments in her life when she had seen him reopen his eyes after she thought that she was about to lose him. Still smiling, she nodded slightly. "Yeah, I remember."  
  
"Well I can't wait for later anymore. . ." Moving close to her, he kissed her. He kissed her as much and as long as he physically could before pulling back slightly. It was hard enough to breathe on his own; let alone when he was stabbed. Right now, though, it didn't matter. Nothing did; only that she was there. And that she had kissed him back. "I love you, Abby. I love you."  
  
Even if Abby had said that she would tell him that she loved him when he'd wake up, now she was taken aback by it. She had been hoping that, when she were to tell him about her feelings, he'd say that he loved her, but now it was her who didn't know how to respond. It took her a while to find her voice but, when she did, she caressed his cheek gently and kissed his lips lightly. "I love you too, Luka. You mean everything to me. . ."  
  
Smiling mutually, they kissed each other again; not wanting to be apart anymore. They had had enough time apart: now they wanted to always be together.  
  
Always and forever. 


End file.
